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Today In Wyoming's History: Sidebar: World War Two and Wyoming

Today In Wyoming's History: Sidebar: World War Two and Wyoming: Regular readers here may have noted that there's been a lot of entries regarding World War Two recently. And, as a result, they might legit...

Today In Wyoming's History: December 7

Today In Wyoming's History: December 7:

Today is, by State Statute, WS 8-4-106, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.  The Statute provides:

(a) In recognition of the members of the armed forces who lost their lives and those who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, territory of Hawaii on December 7, 1941, December 7 of each year is designated as "Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day". The day shall be appropriately observed in the public schools of the state.
(b) The governor, not later than September 1 of each year, shall issue a proclamation requesting proper observance of "Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day".
(c) This section shall not affect commercial paper, the making or execution of written agreements or judicial proceedings, or authorize public schools, businesses or state and local government offices to close.

Your Recollections:  What about you?

Do you have any personal recollections about December 7, 1941?  Either first hand, or that you recall hearing from family and friends?  And, by that, not just Pearl Harbor stories, but I'd be very interested to learn of any family recollections from those at home, on that day.  Wyoming is three hours ahead of Hawaii, did your family hear it that morning, or later in the day?  Just after church, or while tuning in for a football game?  Any recollection is welcome.

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I also note, at least according to an engineer who explained it to me, that December 7 is also a date involving an astronomical anomaly, that being that it is the day of the year which, in the Northern Hemisphere, features the earliest sunset.  That doesn't, of course, make it the shortest day of the year, it's just that the sunsets the earliest on this day, or so I am told.

1868  U.S. Post Office reestablished at Green River.

1890   The subject of sermon at the Rawlins Presbyterian Church was “Choosing a Husband.”

1898  Battery A, Wyoming Light Artillery, arrives in Manilla where it will serve in the Philippine Insurrection.

1909   The Natrona County Tribune reported in a story that ran this week:

"Snowed In.

"W. L. Hobbs and Dr. J. W. Padgett left Lander over seven weeks ago on a three weeks' elk hunt, and the first of last week one of their horses returned, and their friends feared that they had perished in the deep snow in the mountains, and relief parties were organized to search for them. On Sunday night Dr. Padgett was brought into Lander by a trapper, and the doctor said that Mr. Hobbs was badly snowed in near Fremont Peak, there being three to five feet of snow all over the mountains. He said that Mr. Hobbs would not leave his horses, that he had plenty to eat and was clearing small patches of ground so his horses could feed, that there was no immediate danger of either the horses or Mr. Hobbs perishing."

1910  Cornerstone laid at high school in Lander.

1917  The USS Wyoming, under sail since November 25, arrives in Scapa Flow.  Four U.S. battleships arrive at Scapa Flow taking on the role of the British Grand Fleet's Sixth Battle Squadron. These include USS Delaware (BB-28), USS Florida (BB-30), New York (BB-34), and USS Wyoming (BB-32).

1933  Natural gas explosion at bank in Torrington kills one and injuries four

1941  US military installations were attack in Hawaii by the Imperial Japanese Navy bringing the US formally into World War Two.

The USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor on this day.

The first shot was, surprisingly, an American one when the USS Ward engaged and sank a midget submarine at 06:37.  In spite of reporting its action, this did not result in a general U.S. alert.  At least two other miniature submarines were involved in the raid.

The first air wave struck at 07:48.  A second wave followed.  A third wave was debated, but not launched.

The first air strikes happened about 7:30 am Hawaii time.  Wyoming is three hours ahead of Hawaii (less than I'd have guessed) making the local time here about 10:30 a.m. on that Sunday morning.  The national radio networks began to interrupt their programming about 12:30.  On NBC the announcement fell between Sammy Kaye's Sunday Serenade and the University of Chicago Round Table, which was featuring a program on Canada at war.  On NBC the day's episode of Great Plays was interrupted for their announcement. CBS had just begun to broadcast The World Today which actually  headlined with their announcement fairly seamlessly.

2010  Lighting ceremony held in Washington D.C. for the Capitol Christmas Tree, which this year came from  the Bridger Teton National Forest.

Hanna Wyoming VFW Memorial Park

Hanna Wyoming, somewhat unusually for a small town, features a variety of memorials in different locations, including two different locations with war memorials. The other war memorial is featured just below, and is specific for World War One.  This memorial is an all war memorial.  It's additionally surprising as Hanna is a very small town.

The memorial features a M110 8in. howitzer, surplus form the Wyoming Army National Guard.  Carbon County Wyoming, where Hanna is located, was the situs of the Service Battery of the 3d Bn 49th FA, an 8in howitzer unit that was headquartered in Casper.

An unusual feature of this memorial is the helmeted rifle feature, symbolic of the battlefield method of marking the location of the dead.  The rifle, bayonet attached, is bayoneted to the ground with the soldier's helmet on the butt.  Here, in an oddity, the rifle used for the memorial is a World War Two era Japanese Ariska rifle, which was presumably used because it was available.

Here the markings on the Arisaka's receiver are visible.

By way of some added information, Mike Lewis, who viewed these photographs, informed me that the interesting cloud that appears in the last several photographs "is an altcumulus stqnding lenticular (ACSL)."  Additionally, the cloud type "is usually caused by moutain waves nad is an indicator of potentially bad turbulence."  For weather observers, because of the risk to flight, observation of this type of cloud requires mandatory recordation in a weather observer's log.  On the day I took these photographs, ground conditions were appalling, with winds gusting up to 60 mph on a regular basis.  Indeed, dust from a reclamation site is visible in the background.

World War One Service Memorial, Hanna Wyoming

This is a memorial in Hanna Wyoming dedicated to all from the region who served in World War One.  Hanna is a very small town today, and the number of names on this memorial is evidence of the town once being significantly more substantially sized than it presently is.

The memorial is located on what was the Lincoln Highway at the time, but which is now a Carbon County Highway.  This was likely a central town location at the time the memorial was placed.

Carbon County Miners' Memorial, Hanna Wyoming

This Miners' Memorial commemorates all Carbon County Wyoming miners who have lost their lives in the mines. This is one of two memorials to miners near Hanna which I am aware of.

Number One Mine Memorial, Hanna Wyoming.

 

A memorial to the men who lost their lives in the Number One Mine at Hanna, Wyoming.

The 1903 and 1908 Mine No. 1 explosions claimed 169 and 59 lives respectively, with the majority of the 59 killed in the 1908 disaster being men who were killed in an explosion that occurred after the first 1908 explosion.  The bodies of 201 men from the 1903 and 1908 disaster remain buried in the underground mine.